25th Canadian Film Awards

The 25th Canadian Film Awards were announced on October 12, 1973 to honour achievements in Canadian film.[1]

25th Canadian Film Awards
DateOctober 12, 1973
LocationChevalier Theatre, Montreal
Hosted byPress conference only; no ceremony
Highlights
Best Motion PictureSlipstream

Quebec boycott

The awards were marred by controversy, when 14 Quebec film directors signed an open letter announcing a boycott of the awards over their handling of Quebec films.[2] The signatories were Gilles Carle, Denis Héroux, Claude Jutra, Marcel Carrière, Denys Arcand, Clément Perron, André Melançon, Jacques Gagné, Gilles Therien, René Avon, André Bélanger, Jean Saulnier, Roger Frappier and Aimée Danis.[3] They expressed the view that English Canadian and French Canadian film were two different domains which could not be directly compared against each other in the same categories but instead needed to each have their own selection criteria and even their own separate awards, and criticized the funding processes of organizations such as the Canadian Film Development Corporation, the National Film Board of Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.[2] The directors chose to protest even though the awards had been scheduled to be presented in Montreal.[4]

Although the directors stated that they intended their letter as a "quiet" gesture, it had an explosive impact; the Canadian Film Award gala scheduled for October 12 was cancelled, with the winners of the awards announced only at a press conference,[4] and the awards were entirely cancelled in 1974, with the 26th Canadian Film Awards not taking place until 1975.[1]

Producers and film distributors from Quebec, conversely, dissociated themselves from the directors' move.[4]

Despite the boycott, several of the boycotting directors' films were named as winners,[4] although Carle's win of the Wendy Michener Award, for "outstanding contribution to the Canadian Film Awards and the Canadian film industry", was booed in the theatre.[5]

Best Picture controversy

The awards faced further controversy when Slipstream was announced as the winner of the award for Best Feature Film.[4] The film's Best Feature Film win, over Kamouraska, Réjeanne Padovani, Paperback Hero and Between Friends, was widely derided by critics.[1] The Globe and Mail film critic Betty Lee acknowledged that the film showed some promise on Acomba's part, but concluded that it "sags embarrassingly under its weight of honors".[6] In its December 1973 year in review, the paper named it as the worst film of the year and singled out the Canadian Film Awards for a special "Grand Prix for General All-Around Stupidity", both for choosing Slipstream as Best Picture over four much stronger nominees and for giving the Michener Award to Carle.[7]

Its victory was also later cited as an indication that the boycotting directors had been correct in their beliefs that the Canadian Film Awards had a systemic bias against Quebec films.[8]

Winners

Films
  • Feature Film: Slipstream — James Margellos
  • Theatrical Documentary: Coming Home — Bill Reid
  • Documentary: Grierson — Roger Blais and Faire hurler les murs — Jean Saulnier
  • Theatrical Short: Goodbye Sousa — Tony Ianzelo
  • Animated Short: The Family That Dwelt Apart — Yvon Mallette
  • TV Drama: The Sloane Affair — Douglas Jackson
  • TV Information: The Ungrateful Land — Cynthia Scott
  • Nature and Wildlife: Return of the Giants — Ralph Ellis, Gerald S. Kedley
  • Travel and Recreation: Island Eden — Norman Keziere and Ski Alberta — C. N. Ross
  • Public Relations: We Are Running Out of Time — Jan Turek
  • Sales Promotion: Way of Wood — Roy E. Burns
  • Training and Instruction: Moccasin Flats — Patrick Watson and The Trial of Polly Upgate — Gertrude McCance, Don Williams

Special awards
  • Special Achievement: Claude Jutra, Kamouraska and Cameron Graham, To War and Back
  • Certificate of Merit: Gilles Thérien, Ratopolis
  • John Grierson Award: Robert Forget, for outstanding contributions to Canadian cinema
  • Wendy Michener Award: Gilles Carle, for outstanding contribution to the Canadian Film Awards and the Canadian film industry

Feature film craft

Non-feature craft
  • Actor: Marcel Sabourin, Des armes et les hommes
  • Actress: Jackie Burroughs, Vicky
  • Art Direction: Denis Boucher, The Sloane Affair
  • Cinematography: Paul Vézina and Paul Maltais, Faire hurler les murs and Pierre Letarte, The Ungrateful Land
  • Direction: Douglas Jackson, The Sloane Affair and Arthur Lamothe, A bon pied bon œil
  • Editing: Claude Lavoie, Faire hurler les murs and Danielle Gagné, A bon pied bon œil
  • Sound Editing: Arla Saare, The Shield
  • Musical Score: Les Stein, Faire hurler les murs and Herbert Helbig, To War and Back
  • Screenplay: Douglas Jackson and Alvin Goldman, The Sloane Affair
  • Non-Dramatic Screenplay: André Melançon, Des armes et les hommes; Keith Harley, The Winning of Nickel; Pen Densham, J. Fisher and John Watson, Streetworker
  • Sound Recording: Richard Besse and Jacques Chévigny, Station 10 and Karen Foster and Clarke Da Prato, Are You Listening (You Out There?)
  • Sound Re-Recording: Michel Descombes, Le Vent
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References
  1. Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 111-114.
  2. "Group fights to save Film Awards after Quebec directors bow out". The Globe and Mail, October 10, 1973.
  3. "Death of the Film Awards". Cinema Canada, October 1973/January 1974 (Number 10-11).
  4. "A wake for Canadian cinema". The Globe and Mail, October 13, 1973.
  5. "No wonder there're no prizes for Bucheron". The Globe and Mail, November 24, 1973.
  6. "Seagull irritating, Summer Wishes soars, Slipstream not the expected blockbuster". The Globe and Mail, November 10, 1973.
  7. "The stinkers of '73". The Globe and Mail, December 29, 1973.
  8. "Rebirth of the film awards". The Globe and Mail, October 2, 1975.
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